Court: Texas can de-fund Planned Parenthood

By Cindy George

Updated 10:41 pm, Thursday, October 25, 2012

A federal appeals court has refused to grant another hearing to Planned Parenthood, clearing the way for Texas to assume responsibility for health care to low-income women without clinics that previously provided almost half of those services and without federal funding.

“This ruling further dismantles family planning in the state simply because women trust Planned Parenthood for their Pap tests and birth control. This is shameful,” Jeffrey Hons, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Trust of South Texas, said in a statement. In August, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Texas could cut funding to Planned Parenthood's health centers, which in fiscal 2011 served about 50,000 low-income women.

The Women's Health Program now excludes clinics that are affiliates of abortion providers, even if those health centers don't terminate pregnancies.